About Your Tiny Farm

YourTinyFarm.com was started because many people do not have access to affordable, healthy food. Urban agriculture helps to correct this through providing healthy food by eliminating the middleman and increasing the opportunity for community members in need to participate in the growing of this food.

Homelessness is among the most urgent social crises of our time. And while it’s true that there are many organizations and programs working to meet the growing need, it’s not enough. We believe that we will never end homelessness by pointing our fingers and waiting for someone else to solve it: government, nonprofits, religious institutions. We believe we will only end homelessness when each of us gets involved. When we open our lives in big and small ways to the most vulnerable among us. Your Tiny Farm provides a tangible solution that is also an invitation to come closer and to open our hearts. By doing this, it uniquely builds our collective compassion and capacity for all of the needed solutions.

We currently have eight small urban farms located in Cloverdale, Rincon Valley, Geyserville, and Healdsburg, California. We fund our Tiny Farms just like we build them—one by one, and with the support of the community. Support for project management and community engagement comes in part via donations on PayPal and GoFundMe. 

Your Tiny Farm in the Healdsburg Tribune — Humanity First: Providing Shelter to Those in Need

Your Tiny Farm in the Sonoma County Gazette — Tiny Farms Spring Up in Healdsburg

Backyards Supporting Dignity & Health

An interview with organizer Carolyn Lewis about Your Tiny Farm:

Q:  Can you give us a brief overview of the new initiative you are working on?

Carolyn:  Absolutely. I am very excited to be working on our Your Tiny Farm initiative, which is a food producing program I am developing to help ensure that the clients who are part of the Reach For Home transitional housing programs have access to fresh fruits and vegetables available to them at no cost.  

Q:  The Reach for Home webpage describes the organization’s purpose as providing opportunities and support for clients to work toward self-sufficiency, independence and permanent housing. How does Your Tiny Farm fit in with Reach For Home’s Purpose?

Carolyn:  As our clients work toward their goals we assist by helping provide healthy food to ease their expenses.

Q:  You have launched the program at a property in Cloverdale. Why Cloverdale?

Carolyn:  Well, first of all we purchased a home there because the price and the neighborhood suited our needs. It is a property with a fair amount of usable outdoor space, making it suitable for the program. Cloverdale has a fairly significant homeless population, which, in my opinion, is under-served.

Q:  If this first Your Tiny Farm project is a success, can you envision it expanding and how?

Carolyn: Absolutely. Reach For Home has recently purchased a second home in the area and we are replicating this model at that location. This property will house up to 5 individuals and we hope to work closely with them to develop this second farm. We currently have 6 garden beds placed at the property and are harvesting our first vegetables. We have already received offers of donations of materials and tools for the current project and our volunteers seem excited to help. While I am strictly working with RFH in a volunteer capacity, and the Your Tiny Farm project is not an official part of the RHF program, I do hope this program I am developing becomes something other properties can use or replicate.

Q:  Tell us why you chose to volunteer for Reach For Home and what your experience has been so far?

Carolyn:  All you have to do is look at any news source to see that homelessness is a huge and growing problem in this country and in our community. I was looking for an organization that was well run and small enough that I could have an impact without encountering all the red tape and politics of the larger local organizations. 

Colleen Carmichael, our Executive Director, inspired me initially with her impassioned description of what the Reach For Home does. From there it was an easy decision to want to help. The experience has been very rewarding so far. 

I was also inspired by a TED Talk by Rex Holbein, who started an organization in Seattle called Facing Homelessness. Rex and I met and talked and his vision of putting a face to the homeless was inspiring to me. Rex also has a project, The Block Project, in Seattle, which provides housing in tiny homes situated in backyards in the city. Perhaps, one day, we may be able to place a tiny home, providing additional housing, in among the beauty of a fruit and vegetable garden in Cloverdale!

Q:  Think big – what would you like the Your Tiny Farm program to look like 5 years from now?

Carolyn:  In five years I envision having multiple properties with thriving small “urban farms” and perhaps even growing enough produce to sell at local farmers markets–creating an income stream for our residents.

Q:  If someone wanted to be a part of this program, what opportunities are there and how would they get more information?

Carolyn: Anyone with an interest should feel free to reach out to me at carolynlewis@gmail.com. Also be sure to follow our progress on our Facebook page. We will also be holding periodic open houses for potential volunteers to get a better feel for volunteer and partnering opportunities.